Improvement in fulling-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

cALvIN F. LADD, oF BLOOMFIELD, NEw JERSEY, ASSIGNOE 0F ONE-HALF oF E1sEIGHT To JAMES T. SANFORD, oF NEW YoEK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FULLING-MACHINES. I

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 127,489, dated June 4,1872.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CALVIN P. LADD, of Bloomfield, county of Essex,State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Im-' provement inFulling-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making partof this specification, in which- Y Figure l is a perspective view, andFig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section, of a machine embracing myimprovements.

In the accompanying drawiug,A A represent the sills, B the posts, C thelongitudinal 'girts, and (J1-the transverse girts, which, to-

gether with the sides O2, form the frame-work and casing, which supportthe working parts of the machine. Motion is imparted to the devices-through a band-wheel', E, keyed to driving-shaft c, which is mounted insuitable bearings on one of the lower sills, A, and extends across themachine from side to side. e1 e2 are two simil ar shafts lying parallelwith shaft e, but, for convenience, arranged in planes respectivelyabove and below the plane of shaft e. Shafts e1 e2 are driven from shafte through the gear-wheels E1 E2 E3, as is plainly shown in Fig. 2. F Fis the fulling stock or abut-- ment, made in two parts, the lower one,F', being stationary and expanded into an apron or iioor,which extendsforward and upward, above the shafts e e1 c2, and connects with a vat.This apron is made, preferably, wide enough to ll the space between thesides C2, but is recessed upon each side, as at f, Fig. 2, formingslots. The upper part F of the stock is made much narrower, as shown,and is attached to the free ends of arms G, which are pivoted at theirfront ends as at g. Thus the part F is free to rise and fall, whenactuated by mechanism which will soon be explained. H I are two beatersor thumpers supported upon links H I'. These links or hangers aresuspended at their upper ends upon transverse girts C1, by means ofsockets K and jaws k, in such Inanner that a vibratory or oscillatingmovement may be imparted to them by means of pins or studs h i, whichproject from the faces of gearwheels E1 E2, so that as the Wheelsrevolve in the direction indicated by the arrow said pins shall engagewith the lower ends of the links or hangers H I and lift them and thethumpers a short distance, and then escape and let them (the thumpers)fall, as will be readily understood without further explanation. Thesethumpers are of a length about equal to the width of the machine betweenthe sides G2,l

being connected to the ends of the links and l moving them up and down,as will be readily understood without further explanation. The thumpersare ribbed or corrugated upon their rear edges-that is, those edgeswhich are next to the fulling-stock-and are also ribbed upon one or bothof their sides, which should be formed in an arc of a circle the centerof which is the point at which the links Il I are supported, as by meansof this form they will always maintain a proper working relation to eachother during their vibration. By preference I make the corrugations uponthe sides of the thumpers to resemble in some degree the teeth of aratchet, as shown in Fig. 2. The gears E1 E2 E3 are not shown in Fig. 1,because they are inclosed within the sides C2; but I do not wish to beconfined to this arrangement. L is a worm or screw secured to the outerend of shaft c1, and engaging with a corresponding worm-wheel, m, on thevertical shaft M, which carries at its upper end a bevelpinion, m.Pinion m gears with bevel-wheel N on the projecting end of the shaft ofone of a pair of feeding and squeezing rollers, N]l N2. Thus a slowrotary motion is imparted to these feeding-rollers. 0 is a horizontalshaft driven by another worm-wheel, o, from screw L, and provided with abevel-gear wheel, O. The

bearings o' and l, which support one end of the shafts M O,respectively, are made adjustable in order that worm-wheels m o may bekept properly in mesh with screw L. Bevel-wheel O gears with bevel-wheell? on the vertical shaft P1, which has keyed to it the bevel-gear p andthe cam P2. Q Q are feeding-rollers, located in rear of thefulling-stock or abutment F F in such position that their engagingsurfaces are about in the same horizontal plane with the dividing-linebetween the two parts of said abutment, as shown in Fig. 2. The lowerroller, Q, revolves in stationary bearings, but the upper one is free torise and fall, being held down by means of the weighted levers R R.Roller Q is driven from bevelwheel P, gearing with a bevel-pinion on oneend of the roller-shaft, Vand roller Q' is driven from roller Q byspur-wheels on the opposite ends of the rollers. R' R' are chainspassing over pulleys mounted on girts C or other suitable supports, andAconnecting the weighted levers R R with the upper part F of thefulling-stoclL S is a lever, pivoted centrally to the rear face of themovable part F of the stock at s in such position that one end shallrest upon and be actuated by the cam P2, so that when the opposite endof the lever is supported by the pin s' against downward thrust, stock Fshall be lifted and dropped once at each revolution of said cam P2. T isa vat for containing any of the usual saponaceous compounds or solutionsusually employed to' facilitate the process of fulling. T' is aguideroller, and U is a standard, (of which there should be one at eachside of the machine,) provided with brackets for the reception of therollers upon which the felt or other Agoods y is rolled.

The'operation of my machine is substantially as follows: The rollers(one` or more) carrying the goods to be treated are placed upon thestandard U. One end of the piece or pieces, as the case may be, is thenpassed over roller U', under roller T', between the squeezing andfeeding rollers N1 N2, which revolve in the direction indicated by thearrow. From these rollers the goods are passed between the beaters orthumpers H I, or they may be passed under and between, or both, as maybe desired, and thence into the space at their rear ends, sometimescalled the fullingchamber, where they are subjected to substantially theordinary fulling process for such length of time as may be thoughtadvisable, during which time they are being slowly fed in by the rollersN1 N2. While this operation has been going on the pin s' has beenwithdrawn, so that the lever S has been vibrated about the pivot swithout lifting the stock F. I now replace pin s', and when cam P2 hasbeen advanced a short distance beyond the position in which it is shownin Fig. 1 stock F will have been lifted such distance as will enable meto withdraw the end ofthe piece of cloth for examination, to see if itis fulled enough. If it is not fulled enough I put it back, and continuethe operation as before; but if it is fulled sufcientlyI introduce theend between rollers Q Q', which are now pressed tightly together by theweighted levers It R. The rollers will continue to draw the goods out ofthe fulling-chamber until lever S is released at the heel of the cam,when the stock F falls and holds the goods with a firm gripe andsimultaneously lifts the weighted lever It, thereby releasing roller Qand checking the feed. It may be found advisable to employ springs tolift roller Q from roller Q' when it is desired to check the feed.

It will be seen by an examination of the gearing that the speed ofrollers Q Q' is much greater than that of rollers N 1 N2. rIhis isrequired from the fact that rollers N1 N2 feed continuously, whereasrollers Q Q' intermit in their feed, although one or perhaps both ofthem revolve continuously; and as some goods shorten up more than othersin fulling the proportionate length of time that rollers Q Q' are madeto feed may be regulated by .adjusting lever S longitudinally. Thus,while the cam begins to actuate the lever at the same point in its (thecams) revolution, it is evident that if we withdraw the lever from theposition relative to the cam in which it is shown in Fig. l it will notbe held up so long as it would be if it were left where it now is, and,on the contrary, it would be held up longer by thrusting it further overthe cam than is shown in Fig. 1.

No pipes are shown for heating the solutionvat, but I intend addingthem; and I may increase the number of thumpers without departing fromthe spirit of my invention. I may also find it advantageous to corrugatethe apron or bed which forms an extension of the lower stock.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a fulling-machiue, two or more vibrating thumpers or beaters,arranged in parallel or nearly-parallel planes in such manner that thegoods to be operated upon may be readilyT passed between said thumpersinto the fullingchamber.

2. A fulling-stock made in two parts, one of. which is movable to permitthe withdrawal of the fulled goods.

3. In combination with the i'ullingstock F F', the automaticintermitting feed-rollers or take-up Q Q', operated substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with the divided fullingstock and the feeding-rollersor take-up Q Q', the levers Pt R, the chains R' R', or theirequivalents, for causing the rollers to act upon'the goods when theupper part ofthe fulling-stock is lifted, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

' 5. In combination with the feeding or takeup rollers Q Q' and dividedfulling-stock F F', the adjustable lever S and cam P2 for regulating theamount of goods which shall be removed from the fulling-chamber during agiven period, as at each successive interval, substantially asdescribed.

6. In combination with the fullin g devices, the vat T and the feedingand squeezing rollers N1 N2, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day ofJanuary, A. I). 1872. Witnesses: CALVIN I. LADI).

JAMES M. G. DoRnMUs,

A. G. SASTRE.

